GUIDING BUSINESS
MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS
A Manual for presidents and directors of
Business Membership Organizations
interested in strengthening their association
Tool developed by:
Martin Wahl
Rolf Speit
Andreas Dohle
Reyes Marinho
INDEX
1.
OBJECTIVES OF THIS MANUAL
1
2.
Business membership organizations
1
3.
Strategic lines of intervention
3
4.
Improving service delivery
4
4.1.
4.2.
4.3.
4.4.
4.5.
4.6.
4.7.
Consultancy Services
Training Services
Trade and Market Development
Information and Networking
Insurance Services
Credit Cooperatives
Mediation and Arbitration
5
7
7
7
7
8
8
5.
Advocacy and local economic/sector development activities
10
6.
Build a lively organization culture
12
7.
prudent and professional management
15
7.1.
7.2.
7.3.
7.4.
Revenue Sources
Taking The Reigns of a BMO
Day-to-Day Operations
The End of a Mandate
15
18
23
25
Bibliographical references
Development
Annexes
1.
OBJECTIVES OF THIS MANUAL
As there are currently only very few training programs for presidents and directors of
BMOs – Business Membership Organization, in February 2006 the Professional
Training Centres of the Bavarian Employers Association (bfz), Germany, launched
the “Guiding Business Membership Organizations” training program in an effort to fill
this gap and meet the demands of BMOs. It is largely based on a program
successfully introduced by the Confederation of Brazilian Business Associations
(CACB) as part of the Technical Cooperation between Brazil and Germany. As part
of this program, the Federation of Association of Commerce, Industry, Livestock and
Services of the Federal State of Minas Gerais (Federaminas, Brazil) and the Essen
Chamber of Arts and Trade (Germany) developed a manual that served as an
inspiration for this guide.
In today’s environment of globalisation, the world is increasingly competitive,
obligating businesses to adapt to this new reality in order to ensure their continued
existence. Behavioural changes and the adoption of modern management
techniques on the part of businesses become indispensable in guaranteeing a
prosperous future for their organizations.
On the other hand, BMOs need to be agile in conforming to the demands of the
market as well as be able to alter their profile and practices, becoming, in effect,
articulating organizations and service providers for their associates. In this manner,
the training and manual will contribute towards answering the following questions:
What is the real role of a modern BMO and how does it function?
What services may the organization offer its associates?
How can the BMO contribute towards local economic and social development
and improving the general business environment?
How to manage a BMO and guarantee its sustainability?
Naturally, not all of the examples and recommendations presented in this manual
will be appropriate for the needs of each BMO. The management of the organization
is influenced by both the situation in which it finds itself, in terms of its physical
installations and staff, and the specific needs of its associates.
2.
BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS
The designation “Business Membership Organization” mirrors the outstanding
importance of the members as the base of strength and power of this kind of
business association. The main role of BMOs is to promote the growth and
prosperity of their members and related business actors. In doing so, they act both
as service facilitators or providers and as a representative body – members join
because they want to access business development services and influence the
political decision-making process to create a more favourable business
environment. Diverse possible organizational settings result from the variety of
business needs and interests, which are combined with the functional flexibility of
BMOs.
All BMOs have certain common characteristics: First, they are non-profit
organizations. This does not mean that they are not allowed to charge for services
but that their primary objective is to take collective action for their members.
Secondly, they are guided democratically by the decisions of their members (or
elected representatives). It is important to note that membership should in principle
-1-
be open to all eligible enterprises willing to join. Thirdly, they finance their operations
by a mix of membership fees, service charges, voluntary grants, and public
subsidies.
These organizations can be divided into two major groups, namely business
associations and chambers:
Business associations are usually private law organizations concentrating on
specific industries, firm sizes, functions or geography. They are characterized by a
more homogenous membership structure and include a relatively small number of
(potential) members. These enterprises generally have corresponding interests and
have to cope with similar problems and needs, e.g. how to sustain competitiveness
or how to find export markets. As table 1 shows, there are different subgroups of
business organizations. Successful regional business associations often form
specific sector groups (e.g. construction and ceramics industry or auto-mechanics)
in order to facilitate the expression of interests around common concerns.
Table 1: Characteristics and Functions of Different Types of BMOs
BMO Type
Defining Factor
Typical Functions and Services
Business
Associations
- Trade/industry Occupation/Industry Arbitration,
standards
associations
upgrading
quota allocation,
setting,
lobbying,
industry
quality
- SME
associations
Size of firm
Entrepreneurship training and consulting,
finance schemes, group services
- Women’s
associations
Gender
Entrepreneurship training,
gender-specific advocacy
- Employers’
associations
Labour relations
Interest representation vis-à-vis
professional information, training
microfinance,
unions,
- Confederations Apex bodies
High-level advocacy, general business
information, research, coordination of
member associations
- Regional
associations
Geographic region
Lobbying, sector-specific activities such as
trade fairs and matchmaking, local
economic development
- Bi-national
associations
Transnationality
Trade promotion, trade fairs, matchmaking
Chambers
Geographic region
Delegated government functions, arbitration
courts,
basic
information
services,
matchmaking, local economic development
Chambers (of Commerce and/or Industry) are organizations under public or private
law representing the business interests of a certain region. Potentially, all
enterprises in a respective region will be members of the chamber irrespective of the
sector they belong to. Since a chamber has a heterogeneous membership, it has to
balance the often conflicting demands of all branches and sectors. Entrepreneurs
may not find it very profitable to pay fees for this kind of general interest
representation. Therefore, a chamber has to concentrate on the delivery of
interesting services for its members. On the other hand, chambers are well suited
-2-
for performing functions delegated by the government exactly because of their broad
membership base and regional coverage.
3.
STRATEGIC LINES OF INTERVENTION
One phenomenon is very common in many countries: Unless BMOs benefit from a
mandatory membership system, chambers and associations are faced with a vicious
circle that limits their capacity of exerting influence in favour of their clientele
seriously: The fact that they dispose of just a few members, restricts their
possibilities of generating income for their organization. As a consequence, they are
not in a position to offer attractive services which keeps the number of members
further down.
The only valuable option in order to strengthen a BMO and reverse the vicious circle
is to enhance the attractiveness of the organization (see also chart 1). In order to do
so, BMOs have the following strategic options:
− Develop services which are of practical relevance for their members and which
they would be willing to pay for;
− lobby actively and constructively for a conducive business environment which
includes local economic and sector development activities;
− build a lively and democratic organization culture and
− strengthen the organization from within by prudent and professional
management practices.
As an organization can only be successfully developed if it works on all these
“fronts”, this manual will provide information of what can be done in these four fields
on intervention.
-3-
Chart 1: Strengthening BMOs1
Law of Large Numbers
Many associate members
=
muita influência
COMMUNITY AND
BUSINESS LOBBY
With different groups of society
SERVICES
Advisory
Training
Group counselling
etc.
GREATER ATTRACTIVENESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS
MORE ENTREPRENEURS JOIN
More members pay
their membership
dues
More resources
available to develop
better services
4.
IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY
SMEs, which lack the financial and human capacities of their bigger competitors,
need to resort to external service providers to operate their businesses and make
them grow. However, since markets for business services are underdeveloped in
most developing countries, SMEs do not have access to a sufficient number of
services that are reasonably priced and useful for their operations. One reason for
1
Chart by Fundação Empreender, Santa Catarina
-4-
the weak development of service markets targeting SMEs may be low effective
demand by enterprises and their hesitation to pay for services; this attitude stems
from a lack of awareness as well as from no or negative experience with existing
suppliers. Taking into account that the development and provision costs of many
business services are considerable, it is extremely difficult for private service
suppliers to work profitably in these markets. Owing to these disadvantages in
servicing SMEs, most service providers in developing countries specialize in
services for large-scale enterprises. Business services have also typically been
restricted to the cities and are not available in the rural areas where many SMEs are
located.
It can be argued that BMOs have competitive advantages in the provision of certain
services as compared to commercial service providers. Both complement rather
than compete with each other. Firstly, BMOs know their associate members very
well, which allows them to better identify what their problems are (which are often
similar to those of the others) and act as an intermediary between the associate
member(s) and professionals in order to offer practical solutions to their day-to-day
challenges. Secondly, BMOs offer a portfolio of low-cost, low-frequency and shortduration services, leaving other services, which require more intensive and longterm interactions, with commercial providers. It is not uncommon for BMOs to use
externaI suppliers or outsource more complex activities. Thus, the actual level of
competition between BMOs and commercial providers is very low.
BMOs around the world have developed a large number of different membership
services. These services comprise a wide range of activities. Some of the services
are described in more detail below. The whole range of services is displayed in table
1.
4.1.
Consultancy Services
This service aims to assist associate members, especially those of a smaller size, in
the search for solutions to their day-to-day problems, involving consulting on
accounting, legal, financial (credit, debt restructuring) and organizational issues.
This is different from the information services many associations offer for free to
their associate members and that, in general, is limited to supplying generalized
clarifications of common questions, recommending accredited professionals and
distributing bank and public organ forms, leaflets and documents.
The consultancy service proposed here is different: the associate member
interested in professional enters into contact (in person, by telephone or e-mail) with
the association and is attended by a coordinator or intern. In the event that the
problem requires professional monitoring or counselling, a meeting with an
accredited consultant is scheduled.
Those seeking consultancy services shall have specific days on which they will be
attended by the association, and the initial contact is free. From then on, should the
associate member decide to contract the services of a professional, they are free to
negotiate the professional fees, with the organization being able to supply a fee
reference chart. The association charges the associate member a fee for scheduling
the consultation with the Professional and makes its facilities available. Should they
two wish to continue using the association’s premises, a fee shall be paid for their
use.
-5-
The consultants to be accredited by the association should cover, when possible,
the main areas of interest in regards to consultancy services, defined through
surveys on demand.
The need for consulting services on part of micro and small businesses is a
consequence of their lack of qualified personnel, technology and, mainly, of financial
resources. Not all of them take advantage of the professional knowledge of their
accountants, who are able to help them with various day-to-day issues.
Often demanded is information on changes to labour, tax and fiscal laws, new
financing programs created by official banks, any amnesties and/or exemptions
promoted by the Government and even opportunities offered by public and private
institutions for the debt restructuring. The areas of greatest interest to micro and
small businesses in terms of consultancy services are:
•
Legal: This is an area in which small companies are most in need. It can be said
that the large majority of them do not have lawyers on their staff nor have any
contracts with law firms or lawyers held on retainer, as having lawyers
exclusively dedicated to their operations would represent a large waste of
resources.
•
Financial: Small companies are unaware of the lines of credit for fixed
investments and/or operating capital that banks (especially government owned
banks) have available and they may use. The concept of financial consulting
goes much further: the intention is to help the company clearly define its
business plan, seek a bank or line of credit that best serves its needs and even
restructure debts with banks and suppliers.
•
Organizational: It is common to find small companies with problems related to
operating capital, shrinking sales and long-term debts and fines resulting from
administrative disorganization. Often, the creation of “accounts payable and
receivable”, “stock control” and “price setting” systems may be more important
for small companies than new lines of credit. The functioning of organizational
consulting is identical to that of legal and financial consulting.
•
Group consultancy: The problems and questions of businesspersons are,
almost always, common to a group or sector, for example, when there are
changes in accounting procedures, innovations in IT, environmental or
sanitation demands, etc. In these cases, groups of associate members can be
offered group discussions with the participation of guest specialists. There
should be an attendance fee that must take into account the use of the
association’s facilities. For the effective use of group consultancies, BMOs in
several countries created so called Sector Units that gather companies
operating in the same field. In these Units they discuss common problems, as
well as the best solutions that should be adopted. This initiative impedes the
isolation of companies and favours the exchange of experiences among the
group. In addition, the Units facilitate the purchaser-supplier relationship,
improve the quality of the company and provide incentives for training among
the collaborators, creating jobs and increasing the income of micro and small
businesses.
As was stated above, users always have to pay for consultancy services. The
question is, how much. In many least developed countries, micro and small
business owners are often not inclined to pay major amounts. Some of them lack
the financial resources to do so, whereas others do not recognize immediate
benefits. These may accrue only in the long-term, but the payment is instantly. Thus,
there is often a gap between the need for obtaining full cost-recovering consultancy
fees and the limited willingness or capabilities on part of the entrepreneurs to pay
them. In some countries, there are donor interventions in cooperation with national
BMOs, trying to bridge this gap. Under certain conditions, entrepreneurs can avail of
-6-
subsidized and high-quality consultancies at a reasonable price. If your BMO faces
such a gap, it might be an option to analyse existing donor-sponsored programs and
seek support for consultancy services.
4.2.
Training Services
This service deals with the transfer of specific knowledge by way of courses, training
programs, workshops and lectures directed at businesspersons and employees.
More and more, professional training is highlighted as one of the competitive
advantages that companies and professionals may hold; its importance can be seen
through the large number of events held, principally in large cities.
Trainings may be more effective when a cycle of lectures or series of sequential
courses are held, fostering the frequent development of professional knowledge.
They may be directed at associate members or not, as they are a powerful
instrument for increasing both the number of associate members and the revenues
of the association in the short term.
These services are well-accepted in the market, are easy to promote and structure.
Consequently, they have relatively low costs, with the exception of the instructor’s
fees. For these reasons, they are considered excellent revenue recuperation
resources as they generate cash for more immediate projects.
They also reinforce the image of the association as being participative and
committed to the development of its associate members and the community as a
whole. As they attract a large number of participants, they also serve to promote the
products and services offered by the organization.
4.3.
Trade and Market Development
This group of services is concerned with matching prospective buyers and sellers.
BMOs have an important advantage when arranging these collective activities because they can utilize their network of domestic and international contacts. They can
also build on their "brand name capital" as recognized and independent actors.
BMOs are involved in these activities as both event providers and facilitators.
4.4.
Information and Networking
This service deals with the creation of a newsletter or other means of information
such as a web site with the objective of spreading news, positions adopted by the
organization, diverse facts and a variety of subjects of interest to the associate
members and others. Newsletters are a traditional, widely accepted means of
communication wherein associate members can advertise their businesses. As a
revenue source, the newsletter may generate a surplus for the association, given its
reduced costs and its potential as a vehicle for advertising and other paid
announcements.
4.5.
Insurance Services
Some of the more advanced BMOs offer insurance services in cooperation with
renowned insurance companies. In terms of costs, these services compare very
favourably to the market and are therefore popular with the members. Sometimes,
these are linked with consultancy services directed at obtaining the most adequate
-7-
insurance coverage. The segments are diverse and range from automobile and
apartment to personal injury and pension insurances.
4.6.
Credit Cooperatives
Credit cooperatives are considered an important instrument for the development of
society, as it constitutes an effective mechanism for the democratisation of credit
and a fairer distribution of income. Credit cooperatives are non-profit financial
institutions and the property of the associate members, i.e., each associate member
participates at the same time as both proprietor and client. Given the symmetry of
information (the clients are known and generally have the same business-related
interests), credit cooperatives are considered institutions that are tightly focused on
providing quality banking services to those that created them.
4.7.
Mediation and Arbitration
Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution method in which a third person,
chosen by mutual agreement on the part of both parties, filters the information
received from each of them, mediating the negotiation until an agreement is
reached. Mediation presents the following advantages:
•
It is a simplified procedure;
•
its costs are below those of using the Judiciary;
•
it is fast;
•
it is a process that is inserted into the negotiations themselves, or that is to say,
the parties, by mutual agreement, arrive at the desired result, with the aid of
the mediator;
•
the parties leave mediation satisfied, because they themselves, with the aid of
the mediator, produced the desired result.
Arbitration is an extra-judicial conflict resolution method in which, by mutual
agreement on the part of both parties, one or more people, i.e., the arbitrator(s), are
chosen to provide a solution for the conflict. As with a decision by the Judiciary
Power, the decision of the arbitrator(s) is binding, it must be abided by.
•
It is a much faster process than a lawsuit;
•
it is a process that presents, in general, superior technical quality to that of the
Judicial process, as specialists in a given area may be chosen as arbitrators,
such as businesspersons, jurists, psychologists, engineers, etc;
•
it is, in general, less expensive than the Judicial process;
•
it is a process from which the parties leave more satisfied than is the case with
the judicial process, due to the quality of the decision and speed of the process;
•
the parties may choose the procedure they desire most;
•
it is a much less formal procedure than a judicial process.
In the end, both mediation and arbitration are excellent methods of resolving
commercial conflicts. Additionally, it is possible for the parties to decide upon
some form of integrating both methods. So, if mediation fails, the parties can
proceed to arbitration.
-8-
Table 1: Types of Services Delivered by BMOs
Services
Trade and market development
Advice and consultancy
Training
Information and networking
Specialized services
Office facilities and
infrastructure
Delegated government functions
Examples
-
Organizing product exhibitions and trade fairs
Information on prospective (export) markets
Buyer-seller meetings and subcontracting exchanges
Trade delegations
Facilitating market research
Marketing of samples and showrooms
Matchmaking
Exchange visits and business tours
Best practice benchmarking among members
Individual counseling and mentoring
Legal services
Financial and taxation advice
Help with accountancy and bookkeeping
Quality standards and ISO 9000
New technologies and environmental aspects
Management training
Technical training
Vocational training centers for staff members and
apprentices
Seminars and group consultancy
Development of training manuals
Training curricula and standards
Staff training
Regular business meetings
Industry clubs and committees
Web site and Internet-based business contacts
Newsletters and publications
Membership directory and data base
Conferences and high-Ievel meetings
Annual report
Credit cooperatives
Insurance schemes
Secretarial services
Computer services
Telecommunications
Internet access
Developing and managing industrial estates
Running testing facilities
Storage and port services
Business registration
Issuing certificates of origin
Registration of samples
Organization of vocational training schools
Holding examinations and professional licensing
Export quota allocation
Running courts of arbitration
Developing and supervising industry standard
-9-
5.
ADVOCACY AND LOCAL ECONOMIC/SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
The private sector cannot grow and flourish without an adequate framework of
economic policies. In most developing countries, SMEs in particular are unable to
realize their full economic potential due to distorted and/or over-regulated markets.
They are suffering from intended as well as unintended policy-induced constraints
on their development: unsustainable and unstable macroeconomic conditions may
be a general disadvantage, but more specifically an import-substituting foreign trade
and exchange rate policy, biased tax laws, limited access to formal credit markets
as well as burdensome bureaucratic procedures and administrative requirements
may discriminate against SMEs. Despite the fact that SME development has been
assigned high political priority in most developing countries during the past several
years, existing programs lack scope and sustainability, and in some cases have led
to even more policy biases.
As opposed to large companies, SMEs lack the power to influence government
policies or public opinion when they act individually. BMOs can be instrumental in
expressing the needs and problems of the whole private sector, but especially of
SMEs. Lobbying and advocating for a more conducive economic environment are
therefore core activities of BMOs. In this context, business associations with a more
homogeneous membership will find it easier to design a coherent advocacy
strategy. Chambers, which usually have more members from very diverse branches
and professions, are, on the other hand, often readily accepted by government
bodies as true speakers of the entire business in a region.
By actively engaging in advocacy, a BMO raises its profile among policymakers and
enhances its reputation within the business community. This helps in attracting new
members and raising contributions from old ones. In return, BMOs with better
funding can devote more resources to advocacy. Policymakers may profit from
advocacy by getting access to firsthand business information and feedback on
policies; they may also improve their reputation among the BMO's members as
potential voters. Therefore, BMOs have to be regarded as instrumental for
facilitating more democratic participation in decision-making.
In simple terms, advocacy is the act of "advocating" on behalf of a certain group in
favour of or against something (or somebody). Policy advocacy of BMOs is geared
toward initiating new, changing existing, or abolishing outdated laws and regulations
concerning business. In recent years, this definition was extended to including local
and sector economic development activities. By getting involved in such
comprehensive programmes, BMOs also contribute to improving the business
environment. Such initiatives are commonly not confined to changing legislation but
may include any kind of activity targeting improvements in a specific economic field
and requiring the involvement of stakeholders from the public and private sectors.
Some forms of advocacy in the wider sense are describes as follows:
•
Dialogue platforms: They can take the form of institutionalized (mandatory)
public-private consultations, e.g., joint committees, advisory councils, hearings
etc. All these forms allow for a formal participation and structured exchange of
opinions between government officials and business representatives (mostly
from BMOs) at regular intervals. Such institutionalized dialogue may evolve
gradually as a customary right or may be explicitly prescribed by law. Publicprivate dialogue platforms may be national or regional and targeted toward
specific industries or economic issues. BMOs should strive for representation in
all joint committees whose decisions are relevant for their members. Next to
these quasi-mandatory consultations, there may be more voluntary, unregulated
- 10 -
dialogue platforms which are initiated by the BMO itself, e.g., conferences or an
informative jour fixe on pressing economic issues.
•
Direct advocacy: An informal way of interest representation, direct advocacy
measures can take many forms: letters, telephone calls or office visits. These
measures are intended to guarantee the support of politicians on specific
issues. Despite the more informal nature of these activities, BMOs should make
sure that the positions they present are carefully prepared and that the delegate
who establishes the contact has good communication skills. BMOs may also
consider using the well-established relations of bigger member companies to
support their case. However, they should make sure that these influential
members do not follow their own agenda.
•
Grassroots campaigns: BMOs may ask their members to support their
initiatives by contacting politicians via e-mail, telephone calls, letters, fax
messages or active participation in conferences dealing with economic topics.
They can organize demonstrations in favour of their political objectives. These
grassroots campaigns may also spread to other interested people and to nonmembers. Because of their established business network, BMOs can easily
mobilize a substantial number of voters and therefore stand a good chance of
influencing policymakers. To remain respected and serious dialogue partners,
BMOs should be careful not to overdo such powerful actions.
•
Public relations: Successful interest representation requires not only the
recognition by politicians but also the support of the public. BMOs should
therefore produce useful and easily understandable information on how new
laws and regulations affect businesses, employees, investors, suppliers, and
customers. Member surveys as well as external research bodies can deliver
necessary background information on pressing policy issues. By publishing
press kits, news releases and FAQ fact sheets and organizing live appearances
on TV shows etc., BMOs may use the media to convey their messages to
politicians and the general public.
•
Local economic development (LED): LED has become an ever more
“popular” approach among development agencies worldwide over the last
years. One of the reasons for this is, that decentralization processes in many
parts of the developing world have led to the creation of autonomous local
entities entrusted with the task of
shaping
the
local
economic Table 2: The process of LED:
environment. In this context, LED Stage 1: Doing an assessment of the
provides local decision-makers with a
local/ regional economy
set of tools targeted at addressing local Stage 2: Organizing the stakeholders
economic problems in a systematic
way, spurring local economic growth as Stage 3: Creating the LED strategy
well as job creation and, thus, Stage 4: Implementing the LED
strategy
sustaining decentralization efforts. LED
is
a
multi-stakeholder
approach Stage 5: Reviewing the LED strategy
involving representatives from the
public as well as private sectors. Thus, as advocates of the business sector,
BMOs play an important in such initiatives. Other principles of LED - efforts are
its holistic approach and that it has to be backed by committed local leaders. If
the latter cannot be assured, LED – programmes are likely to fail. Typically, any
LRED – strategy follows a sequence of several stages which are outlined in
table 2. Note that sometimes stages one and two are conducted inversely, with
the stakeholders getting organised before competitive advantages and
disadvantages of the local and regional economy are assessed. The fine-tuning
depends on the specific circumstances under which such an endeavour is
initiated. I
- 11 -
•
6.
Local Development Forum: A Development Forum is an instrument for
promoting discussions and collective propositions for potential joint activities
directed at solving the problems common to its participants, whose
deliberations, such as the development of an action plan, depend on ample
debate and cohesion among the players, participants and collaborators. It is a
tool for LED. A Development Forum should be held whenever there exists a
reasonably structured support network constituted around the objective and a
relative cohesion among the involved players. This should be a moment for
increasing the synergy among the main local agents and for forming strategic
alliances. The socio-political environment has to be considered in making
decisions. Dates preceding official transitions of power, be they in the
associations themselves or public bodies, should be avoided for the realization
of events of this sort. The objective of the forum should correspond to the real
needs regarding local development, but should not try to deal with them all at
one time. A good suggestion is to organize workshops orbiting around those
issues that are relevant to the overall objective. For instance, if a region is
inclined towards tourism, the focus has to have that segment as its base. In
general, job and income generation are consequences of these actions and not
causes. Therefore, a tourism forum will have workshops dealing with Labour
Capacitation, Tourism Infrastructure, Marketing and Promotion, Tours and
Calendar of Events and Securing Financial Resources. If the theme in question
involves, for example, the furniture sector, it is natural that workshops on
themes such as transportation infrastructure, technology and supplier
development should be held.
BUILD A LIVELY
ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Many BMOs do not only face the problem of having few members but also of having
few active members. Of course, all organization building efforts will finally result in a
growing and more active membership. Nevertheless, BMOs can also do a lot to
target specifically the aspect of building a lively organization culture. Three tools are
proposed in this respect: membership management, the formation of sector units
and BMO – marketing.
Membership development covers marketing efforts for new members (corporate
identity, public relations) as well as the administration of existing members
(membership database, structure and payment of dues). It is not enough to attract
additional members every year if a comparable number of enterprises drops from
the BMO's membership list. Many BMOs have difficulty dealing with such a
"revolving" membership structure. To achieve a significant increase in membership,
the central secretariat should therefore develop a precise strategy for the
recruitment and the retention of members. Instruments for membership development
which can be supported by donors include:
•
Recruitment: Marketing and awareness campaigns need to be conducted on a
regular basis. Specific marketing activities are presented below.
•
Retention: Existing members need to be cared for intensively in order to give
them a sense of ownership and allow for their participation. Membership
satisfaction surveys are a valuable tool for evaluating the BMO's performance
and for enhancing the members’ loyalty with regard to the organization. A
hotline for complaints and inquiries is another instrument in this respect.
- 12 -
•
Administration: Membership administration will be much easier with a
comprehensive and up-to-date list of members. Such an electronic information
system can also be used to upgrade other BMO services, e.g., by developing
an electronic matchmaking tool. Finally, BMOs should think about appointing a
specialized membership officer.
A sector unit is a set of businesses, generally from the same trade, in a certain
local area, which are organized in order to pursue collective actions. Their
establishment has represented one of the most effective forms of organising
businesses operating in the same segment, providing strong input to increase their
competitive advantage in the market. As a result, BMOs assisting the businesses
within the sector unit are made stronger, due to the increased representative power
on behalf of the business environment. The following may also be described as
advantages:
•
The establishment of Sector Units provides their members with the following:
low-cost and ease-of-access to managerial and technical management
expertise;
the possibility of conducting joint purchases and sales (dealings with
suppliers) with a positive impact on trading conditions and improved
bargaining power with the market;
access to fairs, trade missions and events more frequently and at lower
costs;
access to group and specialized consulting;
realization of network marketing;
technical and technological upgrading of processes;
professional viewpoint and access to new managerial concepts;
promotion of institutional lobbying on behalf of unit members;
the practising of good citizenship by providing support for social projects;
gains in terms of quality, productivity and competitiveness.
•
In terms of organization development, BMOs benefit through:
an increase in affiliations and consequently, of the BMOs’ revenues;
increased demand for other products and services provided by the entity;
the introduction of new products and services and consolidation of the
existing ones;
a strengthening of the associative concept;
greater institutional representative power;
greater awareness and the adoption of a more professional stance on the
part of officials and other supporters of the entity;
the establishment of favourable conditions for local and regional economic
development.
For institutional marketing purposes, BMOs have the following options:
•
Association logo: The logo is fundamental in promoting the visual identity of
the association and facilitating its identification.
•
Layout of premises: With the high level of competition in today’s market,
companies find themselves more and more needing to search for differentiation
in customer service, in the convenience offered and in their appearance, as
well. It is no different with BMOs. In order to provide their services they must
dispose of a basic structure and, consequently, a well-defined layout. An
organization is first judged by its head office. The size or number of rooms is not
important, but rather that the façade be well painted, the entrance well defined
- 13 -
and clean and the rooms properly equipped. It should be emphasized that the
investment made is completely recoverable, provided the organization
implements a proper marketing plan directed at spreading word of its renovated
or new head office. Even with regards to the directors themselves, the desire to
meet in a welcoming head office is more attractive, breathing new life into the
organization.
•
Social events: The goal of holding a social event is the promotion of a friendly
gathering in which the participating businesspersons mingle and exchange
ideas and opinions. These events also contribute to the establishment of
business contacts. For a social event to reach these objectives and not become
simply a get together among friends, it is important to be critically selective
when drawing up the guest list. Among criteria to consider are:
Businesspersons who are not yet associate members, in an attempt to
increase proximity to the BMO, thus leading to affiliation; and
People from the political and administrative spheres, so as to create an
environment of mutual understanding and sensibility regarding subjects of
interest to the local business community.
Social events are normally informal in character. A barbeque in a beautiful garden,
with the participation of 20 or 30 people, is a typical example. They are sometimes
combined with a lecture, which seems to be an interesting option as well. If the
speaker is a guest from outside the business community, they will have a chance to
introduce themselves and integrate with the group more easily.
•
Open house: Another marketing tool is the holding of “open house” days. The
idea is to invite outsiders to visit the BMO for the purpose of seeing and learning
about its facilities and activities. An open house may be the first step in having a
businessperson take an interest in the organization and join. Though nonassociated businesspersons are the main target group for this type of event,
extending invitations to other groups (NGOs, university and civic groups) may
also be considered. It is important that this event be well structured, as the
objective is not only to show the facilities, but also to “sell” the association.
Following is a plan for a standard open house, which can be followed or altered
in accordance with specific needs.
Table 3: BMO Open House Days
Responsible
Content
President and Before the event:
Director
Create a guest list and send invitations three or four
weeks in advance
President
During the event:
“Welcome” – thank guests for their presence, a brief
presentation on the BMO (how it was in the beginning
and how it is now), the number of associate members
and its distribution as per sector, BMO objectives and
current activities.
Director and
Highly practical presentation on the day-to-day
other
activities and services rendered for the associate
members. In regards to services, focus on the
executives
advantages for the users.
1 or more
Explanation of the reasons that led them to become an
associate
associate member, and the advantages from a
members
business-oriented point of view.
Visitors
Provide an opportunity for the visitors to ask questions.
Everybody
Tour the BMO’s facilities.
Everybody
Propose a toast.
- 14 -
Time
15 min.
45 - 60 min.
15 min.
30 min.
30 min.
60 min.
7.
•
Billboards and banners (visual advertising): BMOs should always seek to
reach the largest public in the shortest period of time and at prices that fit in
their budgets. Billboards are an excellent option, but should be used at the right
time and in a manner that reaches two publics at the same time: The
participating public (in campaigns or events) and the target public.
The participating public is the integrating part of a campaign or event and who
share the expenses of promotional advertising and the utilization of billboards.
In this manner, the BMO is featured in the campaign or event as the organizing
body, expenditure free. The target public is society as a whole, and the potential
public are those who are not associate members, but may yet see in the theme
of these promotional campaigns a factor of interest that could motivate them to
take part in spreading that information.
•
Participation in local radio and TV programs: Reserving time on a local radio
station or even participating in the form of advertising is one of the most efficient
means of gaining exposure in the social environment, as radio and TV are
listened to or watched by the vast majority of the population. Close attention
should be paid to the fact that, whenever possible, the promotion of events or
campaigns should be merged with this kind of advertising in order to dilute costs
and reach a larger public.
PRUDENT AND PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT
Professional management is fundamental to ensuring an important role for the BMO
in representing the interests of its associate members. There are various examples
of BMOs that have had fantastic evolutions, doubling their number of associate
members in a short time, after having been led by presidents who were both adept
at and interested in new methods of administration. There are also examples to the
contrary, BMOs that lost the support of their associate members owing to
weaknesses in communication and organization on the part of their leader. It takes
years to build up an organization, but only a few months to destroy it completely.
In order to ensure that presidents and other directors are sensitive to the need to
“govern” a BMO in a professional manner, this part of the manual deals with the
diverse managerial tools adapted to the reality of the organizations and with
behavioural and personal attitudes that make a positive contribution towards a bright
future for the organization.
7.1.
Revenue Sources
BMOs are non-profit organizations. However, they do require financial resources to
fulfil their role of representing the associate members. A minimum structure of
employees, equipment and office supplies are needed. There will only be extra
resources to sponsor initiatives that are of interest to the associate members if the
revenues are greater than the expenses.
The most common revenue sources are:
Cooperation Programs
Membership dues
Donations
Rents and investments
Services
- 15 -
•
Cooperation programs: These are important for associations especially in
developing countries, which often suffer from a very weak revenue base.
Cooperation programs make some of the BMO’s projects or those of its
partners viable that, otherwise, could not be maintained. Cooperation partners
can be multilateral and bilateral donor organizations which, in many countries,
run programmes for the strengthening of business chambers and associations.
Some of them have a specific focus, which may be regional, sector-oriented
(e.g. in the field of vocational and technical training, finance for SME, a certain
branch of business) or gender-related (e.g. promotion women entrepreneurs) in
nature. Formerly, donors tended to focus on a single partner organization and
supported it through direct transfers of money. As this led to a “spoon-feeding”
mentality, most donors have changed their approach. Today, they cooperate
with several partners at a given time (“multi-stakeholder-approach”) and provide
financial support in exchange for tasks carried out or services delivered by the
cooperation partners. This approach is performance-oriented and spurs
competition among the participating BMOs.
Also of interest are the cooperation programs maintained by foreign universities,
foundations, non-governmental organizations and large companies that have an
affinity with the activities of the association. The disadvantage of such
programmes is that they are of a limited duration, and therefore cannot
constitute a permanent and reliable source of revenue. Nevertheless, by
becoming a professional service provider within cooperation programs, a BMO
can build recognition and “sell” this expertise to other potential partners.
•
Membership dues: These are fixed amounts charged monthly to all associate
members and should be sufficient to cover the administrative costs of the
BMOs. Their main advantage is that they are a stable and easy-to-administrate
source of revenue. However, they are relatively low. If they are raised without
adherence to specific criteria, many associate members will generally stop
contributing or make late contributions. When this occurs, it is difficult to take
administrative measures to collect them, due to the small amounts involved
individually, not to mention the mercantile character these measures would
represent.
Experience shows that the membership dues are only regularly paid when the
associate members recognize the trade association as an effective entity and
receive satisfactory service in return. As we know, investors like to invest where
they will realize a return, even if that investment is in the form of membership
dues to trade associations. Thus, a BMO that wishes to reach a state of selfsufficiency solely through membership dues will need to either raise them or
increase greatly its number of associate members. For this reason, a BMO has
to offer something extra, something more than being simply the representative
organ of a trade association.
Few associations maintain a policy of charging differentiated membership dues,
that is, contributions that are proportional to the size of the associate members.
Micro and small businesses feel that they are being done an injustice when their
contributions are equal to those of larger members. In truth, it is strange that a
bakery should make membership dues in the same amount as those of a local
branch of a large bank.
•
Donations: These are resources that are voluntarily provided by nongovernmental organizations, support organizations, large companies,
foundations, service clubs (such as the Lions Club and the Rotary Club), etc.
Their principal characteristic is that these funds are not required to be repaid,
that is, these are “grace-funds”. Whenever they are made, they contribute
significantly to the financing of the association’s activities. On the other hand,
donations are made only occasionally, and so do not constitute a regular part of
- 16 -
the cash flow. Excessive donations, in many cases, put the independence of the
association at risk.
•
Rents and investments: Some BMOs have well located, idle real estate at
their disposal. Sometimes, these properties are highly valued for their
commercial possibilities and a good financial result can be obtained through
renting them out. Others have resources invested in the financial markets,
guaranteeing extra monthly revenues in the form of the interests received.
These revenues, though important to the monthly balance of the BMO’s
finances, have a finite duration, since the rents are generally long term and
currently there are not any significant increases in their amounts. Investments
also have a limited remuneration that cannot be increased through simple force
of will on the part of the BMO or due to the necessity to cover unexpected
expenses.
•
Services present many advantages over other sources. They contribute to an
increase in the level of professionalism of the association and raise its
representative power and the motivation of its employees. Because services are
beneficial for the associate members, they motivate the members to fulfil their
obligations on time as they feel convinced they are paying membership dues to
an organization that is truly useful. Another great advantage is that financial
self-sustainability guarantees the political independence of the association.
In addition to contributing towards financial self-sufficiency and addressing
one of the main demands of its associate members, the service delivery
brings other advantages:
Increases representative power (larger numbers of associate members);
maintains the independence of the BMO;
produces resources to subsidize other activities;
motivates employees;
promotes loyalty of associate members.
Source of finance
Cooperation
Programs
Membership
Dues
Donations
Rents and
Investments
Services
Limited time
Stable but
generally low
Depending on
the political
climate
Constant but
limited
revenues
Political and
financial
independence
- 17 -
7.2.
Taking The Reigns of a BMO
The beginning of a board’s mandate represents a difficult moment for the majority of
BMO presidents and directors. Many questions arise after assuming their positions:
What is the financial situation of the Organization?
What do the associate members expect from the new board and the BMO?
Where is the BMO reaching its objectives and where is it failing?
Are the employees motivated and able to develop the BMO?
What are our proposals for local development and how to realize them?
The next chapters are directed at proposing answers to each of these questions. It
is natural that not all of the proposals can be strictly applied to every BMO, as the
particulars of each one are many. However, they can certainly serve as a starting
point for new boards.
7.2.1
Assessment of the Financial Situation and Assets
When taking a first look at the organization’s situation, the president should take the
following measures:
Request from the accountant a copy of the balance sheets and trial balances
from the last two administrations in order to analyse the organization’s assets
and finances.
Request from the executive directors an analysis of all the BMO’s bank
accounts and obtain a statement for each one.
Verify, together with the accountant and the executive directors that values on
the accounting statements conform to those of the organization’s accounting
ledgers.
Request from the executive directors an analysis of all the accounts payable
and accounts receivable.
Procure the registers necessary to administrate the organization’s accounts;
Acquire the federal, state and municipal clearance letters in order to verify that
the BMO has fulfilled all its obligations up to that date. Only with the up-to-date
certificates can the organization receive public grants or grants from
paragovernmental organs, such as Sebrae.
Consolidating the results of these assessments permits the president to verify the
organization’s situations regarding its assets and finances.
7.2.2
Administrative Expenses
Following the assessment of the organization’s condition concerning its finances
and assets, it is important to verify its expenses. Below is a typical example of the
main expenditure items. Note that the values are fictious and are meant to
demonstrate typical relationships between the different budget items.
- 18 -
Table 4: Typical expenses of a BMO
Items
Monthly
Rent
Personnel – salaries
- receptionist / telephone operator / messenger
- executive secretary
- office staff
- manager
Personnel – labour expenses
- Compulsory Christmas Bonus (Provision of 1/12 of monthly salary)
- Vacation Bonus provision (1/12 of 1/3 of monthly salary)
- Social security
- transportation vouchers / Ticket
- interns
- intern insurance
Consumables
- office and IT- related supplies
- cleaning material – canteen
- photocopies – bindings
- fuel
Newspaper and magazine subscriptions
4.500,00
900,00
400,00
1.200,00
2.000,00
3.610,00
375,00
125,00
900,00
1.200,00
600,00
50,00
950,00
300,00
200,00
100,00
350,00
60,00
Taxes and other compulsory contributions
- Property tax
- Operating License
- Other taxes
Essential Services
Electric energy / water / telephone
- mail / courier services
- corporate internet service provider
Contributions (e.g. to the confederation)
190,00
120,00
20,00
50,00
1.050,00
650,00
150,00
250,00
200,00
Others
60,00
T O T A L
7.2.3
10.620,00
Analysis of the BMO’s Revenues
The third step of the financial analysis of the BMO is the assessment of the
revenues. This procedure should take into consideration only those sources that are
of a permanent nature, as only these may serve for the financial and operational
planning of the organization. A model analysis sheet for revenues of a BMO is
provided in annex 1.
An impartial analysis will show the president and the directors of the Association the
following:
Which are the services and activities that continue to produce a deficit (make
losses)?
Whether the current prices and membership dues are adequate, in terms of
sustainability.
Which services were producing deficits, but which have now entered a
recuperation phase, and show a trend towards positive results.
- 19 -
7.2.4
Which services and activities the association has to continue to render, though
they be producing a deficit, owing to their importance, especially to micro and
small businesses.
Human Resources (HR) Analysis
After assessing the financial aspect of the BMO, its HR potential should be
analysed. This evaluation will directly influence the planning conducted by the new
management, as it demonstrates the potential and deficiencies of the available
human resources, as well as where there is a need to either hire or train personnel.
The assessment should take into account, principally, the following aspects:
Description of each position with the inherent functions and tasks;
The professional profile of the employees (e.g. administrative, mid-level
technical, financial specialists, accountants, secretaries, etc.)
The current occupation level of employees, i.e., whether
there is excess capacity – personnel could be put to better use; or
the association needs to hire personnel to increase the current range of
services or offer new ones.
Qualification necessary for any new services or the need for training.
For the analysis of the organization’s human resources, the standard procedure is to
produce a description of the positions that characterize each of the functions in the
functional structure of the organization (see annexes 4 and 5). Together with the
description of the positions, which can be produced with the participation of the
employee, the person responsible for the assessment should evaluate the profile of
each one, via interviews or subjectively (personal sentiment). In addition, an
estimate of the number of hours dedicated to each type of task should be defined for
the purpose of performance analyses, personal time management and excess
capacity.
7.2.5
Planning the administration
With the assessments of the BMOs financial aspects, human resources and the
demands of its associate members, the board will find itself in possession of the
necessary elements to begin planning its administration.
For a BMO, planning means the board, the associate members and the employees
reach a common agreement on:
The starting point (from where are we starting? where are we?)
The objectives to be reached (for what do we want to reach?)
The strategy to be adopted in order to reach the objectives (what needs to
change?)
The action plan to bring about these changes in a concrete fashion.
If the parties involved were able to find consensual and effective answers to these
questions, the administration of the BMO was well planned. The action plan, which
resulted from the planning activities, must satisfy the will of all the parties involved
and has to be doable, as well as economically viable and justifiable. Planning an
administration is a constant process of negotiation and revaluation. The
commencement of managerial activities does not imply the end of the planning. The
most essential elements of an action plan are the following:
- 20 -
•
•
•
Objectives: The objectives describe a future situation that is considered
desirable and provide day-to-day guidance for the employees. In addition, only
the objectives can justify why the BMO and other potential partners should
invest their available financial and human resources. The objectives should
reflect the policy of the BMO and should be realistic, that is, they should be
achievable with the available resources and under the existing general
conditions.
Necessary Activities and Resources: Activities should be understood as the
individual steps that lead to reaching the objectives. They make it possible to
estimate the necessary resources. When decisions regarding the
administration’s management are to be made, it does not make much sense to
plan the smallest details long in advance, given that, no matter what, many
things will be changed at the time of their implementation, as things rarely
happen as expected. It is, much of the time, enough to simply outline what has
to be done. In practice, this means that approximate estimates should be used
in the planning of activities, which will, subsequently, be detailed successively
over the course of the operational planning process by the employees of the
organization.
Responsibilities and Functions: After having defined “what to do”, there
arises the necessity to decide “who is to do it?” in order to guarantee that the
objectives can be reached. Failing to define responsibilities always results in
problems, as planned activities cannot be carried out without somebody to do it.
The distribution of tasks also helps to verify that the number of objectives and
activities is in keeping with the available human resources.
Workshops complement other forms of work such as meetings and free discussions
on topics of interest to the BMO. The use of professional moderation techniques
favours the evolution of activities, visualization and keeping records of discussions.
An experienced moderator should be available to conduct the activities and the
structural conditions required for the holding of the event must be seen to.
Workshops have the following characteristics:
•
•
•
Participation of the directors, employees and associated members.
A duration of not more than one day, preferably outside of the head office or of
business hours.
Suggested guidelines:
Presentation of the current activities
Presentation of assessments conducted
Discussion of the steering strategy
Definition of the objectives
Development of an action plan (see example on following page)
Distribution of responsibilities
- 21 -
Table 5: Example of an BMO Action Plan
- 22 -
7.3.
Day-to-Day Operations
7.3.6 Good Personal Characteristics of an BMO President
A good definition of the profile of a president of a BMO is fundamental to the
performance of the organization. Chosen by the local business community, the
president must be fully capable of exercising leadership in a serious and democratic
manner, which means providing opportunities for all fellow directors, promoting
cohesion among them and integration with the associate members.
In summary, noted below are the traits that should make up the profile of a
president:
Work well as part of a team;
enjoy a good reputation and be held in high esteem by the business and other
communities;
be in possession of an innovative and enterprising spirit;
be capable of convincing potential new members to join, attract and realize
projects and initiatives, put into practice new ideas, etc;
have an aptitude for expressing thoughts and making arguments;
have a sense of equilibrium and common sense, and know when is the right
moment to act;
know how to listen and decide with courage;
know how to prepare, using good judgment, a successor, in order to avoid
breaks in the continuity of the organization’s work; and
know how to run the presidency ethically, without using the institution for
political or personal economic ends.
7.3.7
The definition of roles
There are presidents who take pride in doing everything themselves. This attitude
compromises the operations of the BMO for the following reasons:
Normally, no person is capable of doing everything alone and producing quality
work. As a consequence, things end up not being done properly or not being
done at all.
If the president really makes an effort and is able to do a lot without the support
of others, they will do this to the detriment of their own company, family and
leisure time. As a consequence, they will lose their personal equilibrium and
their performance will suffer.
These two examples, despite representing extreme cases, show that working in
cooperation with the employees of the BMO is both inevitable and desirable. For this
cooperation to work efficiently, it is important that the competencies of each be well
defined. Only in this way can a spirit of responsibility and non-interference in each
other’s areas of activity be guaranteed.
In this context, the intention is to present the roles of three key elements in a BMO:
the president, the executive director and the consultant.
•
President: The president occupies the most senior position in a BMO. He or
she represents the association before the business community, the authorities
and the public in general. Together with the other elements of the board and
acting under the guidance of the general assembly, he is invested with the
deliberative power in the BMO, encompassing all activities and the financial
- 23 -
•
•
area of the association as well. The president also supervises, in close
cooperation with the executive director, the staff and decides on admissions
and dismissals.
Executive Director: The executive director is the link between the directors
and the associate members, keeping the directors informed as to the concerns
and desires of the members. The executive director also constructs contact
networks with public powers, micro and small business support organizations,
other BMOs, NGOs and the media. It is the executive director’s job to seek new
partnerships, present proposals for new services and attract new associate
members. An essential function of the executive director is to “make happen”
the activities defined by the board. In this context they direct, on a day-to-day
basis, the tasks of the other employees.
Consultants: Consultants make up part of the technical body of the BMO, and
work on a day-to-day basis under the supervision of and in close cooperation
with the executive director. One of their main tasks is the promotion of the
Sector Units. It is the consultants’ job to enter into contact with businesspersons
in order to encourage those who are interested to create new Units or
participate in existing ones. In addition, they coordinate meeting and activities of
those Units.
There is a global tendency to move from authoritarian and directive forms of
leadership to more participative forms, giving the collaborator freedom to make
decisions. This is happening in order to take advantage, in the best possible
manner, of the real and potential abilities of an organization’s personnel, just as a
person given “orders” does only what is absolutely necessary and nothing more, one
who is stimulated and motivated will be much more dedicated to their work.
To help promote a sequential chain of high moral and intelligent dedication to the
BMO, present below are the nine commandments of human resources
management:
1.
Believe in the potential of your collaborators and stimulate their development
and growth in order to liberate them.
2.
Persuade employees and colleagues with your ideas.
3.
Regularly enter into dialogue with employees.
4.
Stipulate, plan and communicate work objectives and demand results.
5.
Concentrate your own efforts on key matters or strategies, delegating tasks to
your subordinates and colleagues. Do not allow these tasks to be re-delegated.
This is done with the objective of developing the abilities of all.
6.
Negotiate with collaborators and colleagues in an objective manner, always
trying to arrive at realistic solutions.
7.
Make decisions in a clear manner based on solid information. Recognize when
decisions should be made by a group and when they should be made by the
president alone.
8.
Evaluate the performance and behaviour of an employee in an objective and
creditable manner; deal with errors in a constructive way, offering concrete
support to help avoid repetitions.
9.
Speak openly, clearly and directly with collaborators and colleagues,
maintaining the will to discuss matters even in difficult situations.
- 24 -
7.3.8 Guidelines for Board Meetings
Ideas for BMO initiatives, campaigns and undertakings, in practically all fields,
generally arise in meetings. It can be affirmed that without regular meetings of its
board, very little can be realized because it is through these meetings that directors
are able, by means of exchanging experiences, information and needs, to
collaborate to everyone’s advantage. Below is a basic guideline for the organization
of board meetings:
7.4.
Topic list – A list of issues should be presented to the directors a certain period
of time in advance, in order to guarantee everyone’s presence and to allow
them to be mentally prepared to deal with the subjects.
Opening of the Session – the president of the organization or his substitute
should open the meeting.
Reading of the minutes – The minutes of the previous meeting shall be read,
with the document being submitted for discussion and voting.
Communications – The correspondence received by the organization and the
communications that the president considers necessary should be brought to
the attention of those present. Such items include: the admission of new
associate members, justification of absenteeism, visitors received, campaigns
of confederations, etc.
Reading the list of issues – Presentation of matters to be discussed and
debated.
Debate – The items on the topic list shall be opened for debate in the order they
are listed. Following this, members of the organization present at the meeting
will be given an opportunity to be heard, with each one being limited to a limit of
five minutes in which to speak, with a maximum tolerance of a further three
minutes.
Voting – Following the debate, the items discussed will be put to a vote, so as
to define the organization’s position in their regard.
Open floor – The floor will be opened for debate of relevant topics that by
chance were not on the topic list.
Closing – The president closes the meeting, thanking everyone for their
presence.
Duration – The meeting should not exceed a time of one hour and thirty
minutes. Experience indicates that the best time to hold the meeting is in the
morning.
The End of a Mandate
It is important that the end of a mandate be prepared responsibly, because, even
when vacating a position in the organization, the board should do everything
possible to facilitate the mandate of their successors. A contrary attitude, even trying
to create obstacles for the new board is unethical and places the evolution of the
BMO at risk.
Therefore, there are three main points that should be observed in this context:
•
Choosing capable individuals for the Board: Choosing individuals who are
not capable of meeting the demands of their position can compromise the very
survival of the institution. With this in mind, it is worth revisiting a few points that
should be taken into consideration when looking for a new board. The profile of
future presidents and the rest of the directors was presented previously. In
- 25 -
addition, representative power in the sector is another point to be considered in
this context. A situation in which the majority of the associates are active in the
agricultural field, but still no representatives from that segment in the board will
probably result in discontent among the members and may place the credibility
of the BMO at risk.
•
Preparing the financial report: The president of a BMO, when vacating their
position, has to leave the house in order. This means that the administration’s
closing balance, the trial balance sheet accounting for the revenues and
expenses of the association and the inventory are prepared and read out loud
for all in the general assembly. It is important that the financial obligations of the
organization be met in their entirety; if there is a financial problem, whatever its
nature, the associate members must be informed and made aware of the
possible methods of resolving them.
•
Prepare activities report: Part of handing the reins over to a successor is the
preparation of report documenting the results of the board’s work during its
mandate. The following information should be included in the report:
The current number of associate members, structured by economic field of
activity, compared with the number at the beginning of the mandate;
the most important activities undertaken, such as training, participation in
fairs, visits to other BMOs;
institutional alterations including the introduction of new services and
the influential improvements achieved in business life at the municipal level
with the support of the BMO.
- 26 -
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Profitable Service Rendering - Federaminas 2003
Project Monitoring – A guide for technical cooperation projects - Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH –
ZOPP - Target Oriented Project Planning - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH - 1998
Enterprise Project – Projeto Empreender CD-Room - CACB
How to Implement a Business and Trade Association - Federaminas 2000
World Bank Group, Small and Medium Enterprise Department: Building the Capacity of
Business Membership Organizations: Guiding Principles for Project Managers - Washington
D.C., 2006
DEVELOPMENT
Support:
The Essen Chamber of Arts and Trade - Germany
BMZ
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and the
Development of Germany
ANNEXES
Annex 1:
Model of a BMO revenue analysis sheet
Annex 2:
Example of an analysis of Position and Function
Annex 3:
Example of an Analysis of Individual Tasks
Annex 1: Model of a BMO revenue analysis sheet
.............................................. COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
2005
Services/
activities
1
2
3
Service
Price
Revenues
Expenses
Date.......................
2006
Result
Service
Price
Revenues
Expenses
Capacitation
IT course
Secretarial
services
Price Structuring
Sales techniques
Lectures
Advisory
services
Accounting
Legal
Credit
4
5
Debt Restructuring
Administrative
Reorganization
Others
Healthcare Plan
Office services
Photocopies
Internet/fax
Room rentals
6
Publications
7
Membership Dues
Regular third party
contributions
Others
8
9
TOTAL 2005
TOTAL 2005
Result
Annex 2: Example of an analysis of Position and Function
COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATION Date:
Position under analysis: Manager
Name: John Doe
Education: Elementary, Secondary, University – Foreign language:
Collaborators: 2
Subordinate to: President of the Association
Tasks:
Develop, organize and improve the Association’s activities and services
Implement activities defined by the board
Plan, monitor and evaluate effectiveness of services rendered
Work towards partnerships with companies, governmental organs and similar institutions
Observe and analyse the political, economic and social situation
Coordinate and organize lobby and communication activities
Attributes:
Autonomy to carry out the tasks listed above
Represent the Association at business-related or governmental events whenever asked
Represent the organization at meetings with partners
Desired profile for the position:
Dynamic and able as relates to the objectives of the association
Planning and organization in performing activities
Responsible in fulfilling role
Respect and consideration for superiors, subordinates and associate members
“Two-way” communication with subordinates
Evaluator:
Annex 3: Example of an Analysis of Individual Tasks
............................COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATION
Data: ..................
Position under analysis: Commercial agent
Name: John Doe
Working hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 12:00 – 1:30 to 5:30
Collaborators: 0
Subordinate to: Manager
Hours dedicated daily to diverse tasks:
Mon
Description
Seek new associate
4
01
members
Visit new associate
2
02
members
03
Meeting with the manager
04
Preparation of new events
1
05
Organization of mailings
06
Analysis of mailings
1
07
Miscellaneous
8
TOTAL
Evaluator:
Comments:
Tues
Wed
Thu
Fri
Total
%
4
4
4
4
20
50
2
2
2
2
10
25
1
1
1
1
1
5
5
5
5
5
8
8
2
2
2
2
2
40
1
1
8
1
8
100